Process of liquifying and conching refined chocolate and an apparatus for performing the process

ABSTRACT

Chocolate continuously fed from refiners is continuously liquified and conched in an apparatus consisting of a compression stage, a shredding stage, a vibration stage, a blending stage and a final conching stage arranged one after another. Each of the compression, shredding and vibration stages includes a rotary shaft extending in and along a trough and carrying blades appropriate to the function being performed. Each of the blending and final conching stages includes an upright cylindrical vessel containing a rotary gate-type blade rotatable about the axis of the vessel.

[451 May 16, 1972 United States Patent Tourell ..99/244 X ......99/244.........99/244 X ...99/236 CCX n l n ma mmmm mm m wa NLMHWHN 13345605555567 wwwwwww wwwwwmw 593242 530686 ,9 ,3 ,5 4003 56 6347 80 L 2222233m P m a A m DL m NO S M AC G R m N O C w Y R T DSP m mum QIAH mE G], LEm RAG w F PN n OGP m m NAM AC SINR AO r C F m O R m ON v PCAP .m M w. kU

[22] Filed: 1970 Primary Examiner-Walter A. Scheel AssistantExaminer-Arthur 0. Henderson Att0rneyCushman, Darby & Cushman [21] Appl.No.:

Related US. Application Data ABSTRACT uously g ofa compresage, ablending ge arranged one after another.

Chocolate continuously fed from refiners is contin liquified and conchedin an apparatus consistin [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 758,798,Sept. 10,

1968, abandoned.

52 [51] Int. [58] FieldofSearch....

edding and vibration stages includes a rotary shaft extending in andalong a trough and carrying blades appropriate to the n ma mm d Hm ec .mm n m. bt S n 8 .U c n m References cued Each of the blending and finalconchin upright cylindrical vessel containin UNITED STATES PATENTS g arotary ga e-type blade rotatable about the axis of the vessel.

2,216,777 10/1940 Hollstein CC 2,355,539 8/1944 Lawton..................259/102 18 Claims,7Drawing Figures PATENTEI] MAY 1 6 I972 SHEET 3 OF 5Li #4 F350 MOE PROCESS OF LIQUIFYING AND CONCHING REFINED CHOCOLATE ANDAN APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING THE PROCESS CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATEDAPPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.758,798 filed the the Sept. 1968, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to a process of liquifying and conching refined chocolate and anapparatus for performing the process.

2. Description of the Prior Art The conventional process of liquifyingand conching refined chocolate is a batch process which occupies between12 hours and 72 hours for complete processing of each batch, dependingon the quality of chocolate to be produced. A batch of refined chocolateis carried on trolleys from the refiners and unloaded into aflat-bottomed trough of a liquifying and conching machine. A heavyroller of the machine is rolled toand-fro along the bottom of thetrough. Either the roller is of granite and the trough bottom is ofsteel, or vice-versa. The liquid chocolate mass produced is removed fromthe trough and forwarded to blending vessels and then to storagevessels.

The liquifying and conching of refined chocolate become more difficultthe lower the fat content of the chocolate. A chocolate of low fatcontent, i.e., less than 26 percent fat content, can be liquified andconched by the conventional process to give a good quality chocolate butthe liquifying and conching take much longer than for a high fat contentchocolate, assuming that the same quality chocolate is to be produced.The increasing cost of cocoa butter fat in recent years has led to arequirement for a process and apparatus capable of producing goodquality chocolate relatively quickly from refined chocolate oflow fatcontent.

A process and a plant are known for the manufacture of chocolate fromthe necessary raw materials, such as sugar, milk and cocoa, in which thematter being processed is fed continuously through a number of stages.The raw materials are mixed in a coarse mixer and then fed to the firstchamber of a series of short horizontal chambers each having a rotaryhorizontal shaft carrying rotary working members. The shafts are drivenin unison by a common drive. The members of the first chamber co-operatewith rough walls of the chamber to rub down the matter to a pasty mass.

The working members in the subsequent chambers of the series apply themass to the walls of these chambers in a thin layer which hasaroma-impairing substances and moisture removed therefrom by a deviceinducing a vacuum in these chambers. The desiccated mass may then be fedto refining rollers which reduce the mass to a crumb form. The crumb soproduced is passed through a second series of chambers substantiallyidentical to the first series. The pasty mass leaving the second seriesof chambers enters a conching zone consisting of two co-axial conicaldishes of which one is rotated about the axis relatively to the otherwhile this other is reciprocated along the axis. The mass enters theconching zone via an inlet arranged centrally of the dishes and leavesthe conching zone at the periphery of the dishes. An ultrasonic vibratorsituated centrally of the dishes may be used to constrict and enlargealternately the inlet for the mass. This process and plant have themajor disadvantage that a good quality chocolate cannot be produced ifthe refined chocolate is of low fat content. Chocolate of low fatcontent would not be liquified by the second series of chambers andwould instead tend to clog the plant. The chocolate is not retained forlong enough in the conching zone. The progress of the chocolate throughthe stages cannot be individually controlled for each stage. There isgreat risk of overheating of the chocolate during processing, becausethe rate of thermal dissipation would be insufficient. Moreover, theplant is very difficult to clean.

A conch machine is known comprising a horizontal trough containing twohorizontal parallel rotary shafts carrying rotary blades and rotaryspoon paddles. Mounted above the trough is a chamber containing twohorizontal parallel rotary shafts carrying rotary radial discs of whichthe discs on one shaft interdigitate with the discs on the other shaft.Raw or unconched chocolate or cocoa is supplied to the trough and therebeaten by the blades. The spoon paddles lift the chocolate or cocoa intoa receptacle and onto the discs, where the chocolate or cocoa forms athin layer which is subjected to aeration and which is continuouslyremoved from the discs by means of scrapers which return it to thetrough. When the mass has reached the desired character and degree ofrefinement, the trough is emptied by a screw conveyor. This machine hasthe disadvantage that it cannot produce a good quality chocolate fromrefined chocolate of low fat content. Low-fat chocolate would not beliquified efficiently by the machine but would tend rather to clog thediscs, which would be particularly difficult to clean.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to reduce thetime taken for the liquifying and conching without necessarily loweringthe quality of the chocolate produced, particularly in the case ofchocolate of low fat content.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided aprocess of liquifying and conching refined chocolate in which thechocolate continuously advances in liquifying and conching apparatuswhile being liquified and conched therein, the liquifying and conchingof the refined chocolate comprising compressing the refined chocolateand thus both forming a stodgy mass of chocolate and forcing fat fromthe inside of the mass to the outside thereof, then shredding saidstodgy mass and thus moving fat from the outside of the mass to theinside thereof to make the mass more fluid, and subsequently vibratingthe more fluid mass and thus converting it into a pumpable liquid mass.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedchocolate liquifying and conching apparatus, in which the chocolatebeing liquified and conched advances continuously, the apparatuscomprising a compression stage in which refined chocolate is compressedinto a stodgy chocolate mass and fat is forced from the inside of themass to the outside thereof, a shredding stage which is downstream ofsaid compression stage and continuously communicates therewith and inwhich the stodgy mass is shredded and thus fat is moved from the outsideof the mass to the inside thereof to make the mass more fluid, and avibration stage which is downstream of said shredding stage andcontinuously communicates therewith and in which the more fluid mass isvibrated and thus converted into a pumpable liquid mass, saidcompression stage comprising a trough, a rotary shaft extending in andalong said trough, and blades mounted on said shaft at intervalstherealong and compressing the refined chocolate in said trough, saidshredding stage comprising a trough, a rotary shaft extending in andalong its trough, and blades mounted on its shaft at intervalstherealong, and said vibration stage comprising a trough, a rotary shaftextending in and along its trough, blades mounted on its shaft atintervals therealong, and substantially completely submerged in saidmore fluid mass, and drive means connected to its shaft for rotating itsshaft at high speed.

Owing to the fact that the liquifying and conching of the invention iscontinuous and the mass passes through compression, shredding andvibration stages, it is possible to reduce the time taken for theliquifying and conching without lowering the quality of the chocolateproduced. For example, it has been found possible to reduce theprocessing time from 12 hours to 1% hours for the lowest quality ofchocolate produced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 shows a plan view of respective troughs of a shredding stage anda vibration stage of the apparatus, but with not only covers removed butalso an upper shaft of the vibration stage,

FIG. 6 shows a vertical section taken on the line VIVI of FIG. 5, and

FIG. 7 shows a plan view of a shaft with blades mounted thereon.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the apparatus shown, thechocolate being liquified and conched advances continuously. Fromrefiners 30, refined chocolate is continuously fed by a continuous-typeconveyor 31 to an inlet end of a horizontal trough 2 of a compressionstage 1 of the apparatus. Mounted in the trough 2 and extendingtherealong is a horizontal rotary shaft 32 which is rotated by a motor33 via reduction gearing 34. Fixed to the shaft 32 at the inlet end ofthe trough is a ribbon blade 35 which forwards the refined chocolate toan intermediate portion of the trough 2, in which portion gate-typeblades 3 fixed to the shaft 32 at intervals therealong compress therefined chocolate and so force part of the fat content of the chocolatemass from the inside of the chocolate mass to the outside thereof. Itwill be understood that this fat content is basically cocoa butter butincludes milk butter where milk chocolate is being produced. Partialbaffles 36 and a full baffle 37 fixed in the trough at intervalstherealong tend to restrict movement of the refined chocolate beingcompressed, and thus aid compression thereof. Under the action of theribbon blade 35 and of the continuous supply of refined chocolate by theconveyor 31, the chocolate mass moves along the trough 2 to the outletend thereof, where it falls over the baffle 37 and is aided by agatetype blade 4 to fall continuously and directly into a horizontaltrough 38 of a shredding stage 6 of the apparatus. The ribbon blade 35is mounted on the shaft 32 by way of radial legs 35, and these legs andthe radial legs 3 and 4' of the gate-type blades 3 and 4 have externallythreaded extensions, such as 101, which extend diametrically through theshaft and on the free ends of which are screwed nuts, such as 102,whereby the blades 3, 4 and 35 are fastened to the shaft 32. Althoughthe number and arrangement of blades on the shaft 32 is of course amatter of choice according to the intended conditions of operation, theshaft 32 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 has a single ribbon blade 35 followedby six gate-type blades 3 arranged two between each two baffles 36 and37, and a single gatetype blade 4 after the baffle 37.

The chocolate leaves the stage 1 and enters the stage 6 as a stodgy massor paste having at the inside thereof a large proportion of its hardsugar grains and at the outside thereof a large proportion of its fatcontent. Mounted in and extending along the trough 38 is a horizontalrotary shaft 39' which is rotated by a motor 18 via reduction gearing19. Fixed to the shaft 39 at intervals therealong are blades 5. Inoperation, each blade 5 collects a ring of chocolate approximatelycoaxial with the shaft 39, these rings of chocolate rotating with theblades relatively to the remainder of the chocolate in the trough. Thespeed of flow of the chocolate mass along the trough 38 has in practicebeen found to be substantially independent of the form and raking of theblades 5, expect that the blades 5 should not be so greatly raked as totend to forward the chocolate mass at a rate greater than the rate atwhich it tends to advance under the action of the continuous supply fromthe stage 1. Here again, the blades 5, which are of plate form, aremounted on the shaft 39 by way of radial legs 5' which have externallythreaded extensions, such as 103, which extend diametrically through theshaft and on the free ends of which are nuts, such as 104, whereby theblades are fastened to the shaft. Although the number and arrangement ofthe blades on the shaft 39 is again a matter of choice, the shaft 39 asshown in FIG. 5 carries 1 3 blades 5.

To explain the action of the shredding stage 6, there will now beconsidered a particle of chocolate which has just dropped from theoutlet of the stage 1. This particle advances, under the action of thecontinuous supply, towards the first blade 5 in company with a sectionof the mass of chocolate. As it reaches the ring of chocolate rotatingwith the first blade 5, it is shredded, by the ring of chocolate, fromthe section advancing therewith and then rotates with the ring ofchocolate and the blade. While rotating, the particle advances towardsanother section of the mass of chocolate, this other section beingbetween the first and second blades 5, and the first and second bladesand their rings of chocolate rotating relatively to this other section.As the particle reaches this other section, it is shredded from therotating ring of chocolate by this other section. The particle thenadvances with this other section and is ultimately shredded therefrom bythe ring of chocolate rotating with the second blade. This action isthen repeated again and again until the particle reaches the outlet endof the trough 38. Such action is of course undergone by the whole massof chocolate and causes much of the fat content to move from the outsideof the mass to the inside thereof to lubricate the hard sugar grains andthus make the mass more fluid. At the outlet end of the trough 38 is across-channel 40 through which the now more fluid mass flowscontinuously into a horizontal trough 41 of a vibration stage 7. Mountedin and extending along the trough 41 are two horizontal rotary shafts 42and 43 of which the shaft 43 is disposed above the shaft 42 at about thetop surface level of the chocolate mass in the trough 41. An electricmotor 44 rotates the shaft 42 via reduction gearing 20 and rotates theshaft 43 via the gearing 20 and further reduction gearing 20 A. Theshaft 42 has fixed thereto at intervals therealong blades 8 and theshaft 43 has fixed thereto at intervals therealong blades 9. At theinlet end of the trough 41 is a full baffle 45 (removed in FIG. 6) overwhich the chocolate mass flows continuously from the cross-channel 40.Fixed at intervals along the trough 41 and at opposite sides thereof arepartial baffles 46. At the outlet end of the trough 41 is another fullbaffle 47 tending to dam the chocolate mass. The blades 8, which are ofplate form, are mounted on the shaft 42 by way of radial legs 8. Theblades 9 are themselves in the form of legs of rectangularcross-section. The legs 8' and the blades 9 have externally threadedextensions, such as 105, which extend diametrically through the shaftand on the free ends of which are nuts, such as 106, whereby the bladesare fixed to the shaft. Although their number and arrangement arenaturally optional, there are 1 1 blades 8, arranged two or threebetween each two baffies 45, 46 and 47, and six blades 9 arranged one ortwo between each two baffles. The shaft 42 is rotated at high speed andthereby the blades 8 slap those parts of the chocolate mass facing themand thus effectively gently vibrate those parts of the chocolate massabove the blades 8, whereby the hard sugar grains coat themselvescompletely with fat until, about mid-way along this trough, the mass isvirtually liquid. At the end of the trough, the mass is in fact apumpable liquid although the hard sugar grains nevertheless remain. Theshaft 43 is rotated at low speed and the blades 9 serve to assist flowof the chocolate mass towards the outlet end of the trough 41 and alsoto break the top surface of the chocolate mass and thus prevent the fatlayer, which tends to collect at the top of the chocolate mass, frombecoming too concentrated. The pumpable liquid mass flows over thebaffle 47 by way of a small channel formed by bending forwardly a comer48 of the baffle and bending rearwardly a corner 49 of the baffle. Theliquid mass flows continuously into an outlet pipe leading to a blendingstage 12 including a vertical cylindrical vessel 14 in which is fitted agate-type blade 50 rotatable about the vertical axis of the vessel 14.Here the pumpable liquid mass is not only additionally conched but israpidly blended with additives, for example additional cocoa butter,lecithin and flavorings, supplied to the blending stage via an additiveinlet 22 of the vessel 14. Since the blending and additional conchingaction tends to drive the mass in the blending stage to the top of thevessel 14, the inlet 51 for the pumpable liquid mass is at the bottom ofthe vessel and the outlet 52 for the blended mass is at the top of thevessel. The outlet 52 is connected continuously via a pipe to a finalconching stage 23 consisting of a vessel 16 substantially identical tothe vessel 14 and a gate-type blade 17 identical to the blade 50.correspondingly, the inlet 53 for the blended mass is at the bottom ofthe vessel 16, and the outlet 54 for the finally conched mass is at thetop of the vessel 16. The gate-type blades 50 and 17 are rotated aboutthe vertical axes by electric motors 55 via reduction gearing 21.

To permit heating or cooling selectively the chocolate in the troughsand vessels, substantially all of the wall portions of the troughs andvessels which normally come into contact with the chocolate mass arejacketed. For example, jacketing is indicated at 56 for the trough 2,the interior of the jacketing being supplied with coolant or heatingliquid through an inlet pipe 57, the coolant or heating liquid leavingthe jacketing 56 by way of an outlet pipe 58. During initial starting-upof the apparatus, and during normal stoppages, the heating liquid ispassed through the jacketing to prevent solidification of the chocolatemass. During normal operation of the apparatus, part of the workperformed by the motor 33 is converted into thermal energy which tendsto increase the temperature of the chocolate mass. To prevent thistemperature from becoming greater than desired, coolant is passedthrough the jacketing 56 during normal operation of the apparatus.Similarly and for the same purposes, the troughs 38 and 41 and thevessels 14 and 16 are correspondingly jacketed, such jacketing beingshown at 59 for the trough 41 and at 60 and 61 for the vessels l4 and16.

It may happen, during stoppage of the apparatus, that the beginning ofthe outlet pipe 10 becomes clogged with solidifying chocolate. For thepurpose of destroying such a blockage, a vibrator (not shown) is fittedat the beginning of that outlet pipe 10 and is temporarily operated whenthe apparatus is restarted.

For lower qualities of chocolate, the conching can be accelerated byproviding a small recycling pump 62 at the beginning of the outlet pipe10 to return the pumpable liquid mass to the inlet end of the trough 2.

For prolonged stoppages of the apparatus, for example stoppages of twoor three weeks, the chocolate is completely emptied from the apparatus.For this purpose, the stages 6, 12 and 23 are automaticallyself-emptying, whereas the stages 1 and 7 can be self-emptied manually.Thus, each of the full baffles 37 and 47 is formed at its lowermostregion with a circular hole normally closed by a circular sluice plate.Since the sluice plates and their control arrangements at the twobaffles are identical, only the sluice plate and its control arrangementat the baffle 37 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the baffle 37 isformed at its lowermost region with a circular hole 63 which is closableby a circular sluice plate 64 turnable about a horizontal pin 65. Theplate 64 carries a running nut which cooperates with a screw 66. Thescrew 66 is so mounted in a cover 67 of the trough 2 as to be rotatablebut not axially displaceable. The screw 66 has fixed thereto at itsupper end a handle 68 whereby it may be manually rotated to turn theplate 64 to open and close the hole 63. It will be understood that thetroughs 38 and 41 have covers corresponding to the cover 67 of thetrough 2, but that these have been omitted from FIG. 1 for ease ofillustration.

FIG. 7 shows blades a fixed to a shaft b. The blades a of this Figurerepresent the blades 5 or the blades 8, the shaft b representingtherefore the shaft 39 or the shaft 42. In FIG. 7, the blades a areviewed radially, so that only their radially outer ends are seen. Thelongitudinal center line of each blade a extending from the radiallyouter end thereof to the radially inner end thereof is a radius of theshaft b and is therefore contained in an axial plane 0 of the shaft b.Each blade a is raked at an angle a to the associated plane 0, and itcan be seen that two blades a in FIG. 7 are oppositely raked. If thechocolate were to be flowing from right to left in FIG. 7, and the shaftb were to be rotating in the sense of the arrow d, then the lefthandblade a would have its leading edge e behind its lagging edge f in thedirection of flow of the chocolate mass, whereas the right-hand blade awould have its leading edge e ahead of its lagging edge f in thedirection of flow of the chocolate mass. If desired, some of the blades5 can be raked as the lefthand blade a, and the others of the blades 5raked as the righthand blade a, or all of the blades 5 may be raked asthe lefthand blade a, or all raked as the right-hand blade a. The anglea between each blade 5 and the plane 0 is between 0 and 30 and, in fact,should not exceed 30 for a blade 5 raked as the left hand blade a, sinceotherwise the blade will forward the chocolate mass along the trough 38too quickly for the shredding to be correctly performed. As regards theblades 8, these are raked at an angle a of between 0 and l0 and,preferably, some of the blades 8 are raked as the left-hand blade a andthe others are raked as the right-hand blade :2. in order to increasethe gentle vibration effect of the stage 7.

The blades 9 are of bar form and are slightly inclined to axial planesof the shaft 43 such that their lagging edges are disposed ahead oftheir leading edges in the direction of movement ofthe chocolate massalong the trough 41. Alternatively, some of the blades 9 could be rakedin the opposite sense.

The apparatus described has the advantage of preventing much of the lossof valuable cocoa butter which occurs with the conventional apparatus,the apparatus described achieving this by keeping the chocolate massmore confined and by shortening the time cycle required for conching.

The apparatus described can be completely enclosed and have guardedviewing apertures and, in fact, once the process has fully commenced,that is to say the apparatus has completely filled, no operator isnormally required.

An example is given of a 5,000 lbs. per hour apparatus wherein the timecycle has been found to be as follows. It required approximately 6,500lbs. of chocolate initially to fill the three stages 1, 6 and 7 of theapparatus and this took approximately IV; hours to perform, and fromthen on the flow of refined chocolate in the form of milk chocolatecrumb from the refiners was set to 5,000 lbs. per hour, the apparatusthen maintaining a constant output of approximately 5,000 lbs. per hour.This apparatus measured overall 17 ft. 6 in. long by l 1 ft. 6 in. wideby l 1 ft. 6 in. high and weighed approximately 16 tons. Each trough was10 ft. long and 2 ft. wide, the trough 2 being 3 ft. deep, the trough 38being 3 ft. 6 in. deep and the trough 41 being 4 ft. deep. The blades oneach shaft were angularly spaced apart around the shaft at intervals ofbetween and The blades 3, 5, 8 and 35 had a working clearance of 3/16in. from the curved walls of their troughs, while the blades 3, 5 and 8were arranged at centers of between 9 in. and 12 in. along their shaft.The baffles 36, 37, 45, 46 and 47 were in the form of vertical platesmounted at intervals of between 1 ft. 6 in. and 3 ft. along theirtrough. The speeds of rotation of the shafts 32, 39, 42 and 43 were 30,60, and 45 R.P.M., respectively, and the power output of each reductiongearing 34, 19 and 20 was 40 I-I.P. Milk chocolate crumb containing 24percent cocoa butter and milk fats entered the stage 1, which had acapacity of 1,400 lb., at a temperature of 90 F, remained in the stagefor 20 mins. and left at a temperature of 120 F. It entered the stage 6,which had a capacity of 1,600 lb., at a temperature of 120 F, remainedin the stage for 30 mins. and left at a temperature of 120 F. While inthe stage 6, it had 2 percent cocoa butter fat added, because the pump62 was not in use. It entered the stage 7, which had a capacity of 3,200lb., at a temperature of 120 F, remained there for 30 mins. and left ata temperature of 120 F. In the stages 12 and 16, the temperatureremained at about 120 F, their motors 55 being of 30 and 20 l-l.P.,respectively. The chocolate remained in each of these two stages forabout 8 mins. each, each stage having a capacity of 700 lb. Thematerials blended with the chocolate in the stage 12 were 4 percentcocoa butter fat and 0.2 percent lecithin.

What is claimed is:

1. Chocolate liquifying and conching apparatus, in which the chocolatebeing liquified and conched advances continuously, the apparatuscomprising a compression stage in which refined chocolate is compressedinto a stodgy chocolate mass and fat is forced from the inside of themass to the outside thereof, a shredding stage which is downstream ofsaid compression stage and continuously communicates therewith and inwhich the stodgy mass is shredded and thus fat is moved from the outsideof the mass to the inside thereof to make the mass more fluid,-and avibration stage which is downstream of said shredding stage andcontinuously communicates therewith and in which the more fluid mass isvibrated and thus converted into a pumpable liquid mass, saidcompression stage comprising a trough, a rotary shaft extending in andalong said trough, and blades mounted on said shaft at intervalstherealong and compressing the refined chocolate in said trough, saidshredding stage comprising a trough, a rotary shaft extending in andalong its trough, and blades mounted on its shaft at intervalstherealong, and said vibration stage comprising a trough, a rotary shaftextending in and along its trough, blades mounted on its shaft atintervals therealong and substantially completely submerged in said morefluid mass, and drive means connected to its shaft for rotating itsshaft at high speed.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, and further comprising a blendingstage which is downstream of said vibration stage and continuouslycommunicates therewith and in which said pumpable liquid mass is blendedwith additives while being further conched.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, and further comprising a finalconching stage which is downstream of said blending stage andcontinuously communicates therewith.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said final conching stagecomprises a vessel, an inlet of said vessel for the blended mass, anoutlet of said vessel for the finally conched mass, and a rotarygate-type blade mounted in said vessel for performing the finalconching.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said gate-type blade ismounted for rotation about a substantially vertical axis, and said inletis at a lower level than said outlet.

6. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said blending stage comprisesa vessel, a first inlet of said vessel for said pumpable liquid mass, asecond inlet of said vessel for said additives, and an outlet of saidvessel for the blended mass, and a rotary gate-type blade mounted insaid vessel for performing the blending.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said gate-type blade ismounted for rotation about a substantially vertical axis, and said firstinlet is at a lower level than said outlet.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blades of saidcompression stage are gate-type blades.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said compression stagefurther comprises baffle means in its trough tending to restrictmovement of the refined chocolate being compressed.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said baffle means comprisessluice means openable to allow complete emptying of the trough of saidcompression stage.

1 1. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blades of saidshredding stage are slightly inclined to axial planes of its shaft, theleading edges of these blades being offset relatively to the respectivelagging edges of these blades in the direction of movement of the stodgymass along the shaft.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said blades of saidshredding stage are inclined at between 0 and 30 to said axial planes.

13. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blades of saidvibration stage are slightly inclined to axial planes of its shaft, andsome of these blades along this shaft have their leading edges disposedahead of their respective lagging edges in the direction of movement ofthe more fluid mass along the shaft, and the others of these blades havetheir leading edges disposed rearwardly of their respective laggingedges in this direction of movement.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said blades of saidvibration stage are inclined at between 0 and 10 to said axial planes ofits shaft.

15. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said vibration stage furthercomprises another rotary shaft extending in and along its trough andabove its first-mentioned shaft, and other blades mounted on said otherrotary shaft and slightly inclined to axial planes of said other rotaryshaft such that their lagging edges are offset with respect to theirrespective leading edges in the direction of movement of the more fluidmass along said other rotary shaft.

16. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said vibration stage furthercomprises baffle means in its trough tending to dam the pumpable liquidmass.

17. Apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said baffle means comprisessluice means openable to allow complete emptying of said trough of saidvibration stage.

18. Apparatus according to claim 1, and further comprising recyclingmeans for recycling at least part of said pumpable liquid mass to saidrefined chocolate.

1. Chocolate liquifying and conching apparatus, in which the chocolatebeing liquified and conched advances continuously, the apparatuscomprising a compression stage in which refined chocolate is compressedinto a stodgy chocolate mass and fat is forced from the inside of themass to the outside thereof, a shredding stage which is downstream ofsaid compression stage and continuously communicates therewith and inwhich the stodgy mass is shredded and thus fat is moved from the outsideof the mass to the inside thereof to make the mass more fluid, and avibration stage which is downstream of said shredding stage andcontinuously communicates therewith and in which the more fluid mass isvibrated and thus converted into a pumpable liquid mass, saidcompression stage comprising a trough, a rotary shaft extending in andalong said trough, and blades mounted on said shaft at intervalstherealong and compressing the refined chocolate in said trough, saidshredding stage comprising a trough, a rotary shaft extending in andalong its trough, and blades mounted on its shaft at intervalstherealong, and said vibration stage comprising a trough, a rotary shaftextending in and along its trough, blades mounted on its shaft atintervals therealong and substantially completely submerged in said morefluid mass, and drive means connected to its shaft for rotating itsshaft at high speed.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, and furthercomprising a blending stage which is downstream of said vibration stageand continuously communicates therewith and in which said pumpableliquid mass is blended with additives while being further conched. 3.Apparatus according to claim 2, and further comprising a final conchingstage which is downstream of said blending stage and continuouslycommunicates therewith.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein saidfinal conching stage comprises a vessel, an inlet of said vessel for theblended mass, an outlet of said vessel for the finally conched mass, anda rotary gate-type blade mounted in said vessel for performing the finalconching.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said gate-typeblade is mounted for rotation about a substantially vertical axis, andsaid inlet is at a lower level than said outlet.
 6. Apparatus accordingto claim 2, wherein said blending stage comprises a vessel, a firstinlet of said vessel for said pumpable liquid mass, a second inlet ofsaid vessel for said additives, and an outlet of said vessel for theblended mass, and a rotary gate-type blade mounted in said vessel forperforming the blending.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein saidgate-type blade is mounted for rotation about a substantially verticalaxis, and said first inlet is at a lower level than said outlet. 8.Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said blades of said compressionstage are gate-type blades.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 1, whereinsaid compression stage further comprises baffle means in its troughtending to restrict movement of the refined chocolate being compressed.10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said baffle means comprisessluice means openable to allow complete emptying of the trough of saidcompression stage.
 11. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidblades of said shredding stage are slightly inclined to axial planes ofits shaft, the leading edges of these blades being offset relatively tothe respective lagging edges of these blades in the direction ofmovement of the stodgy mass along the shaft.
 12. Apparatus according toclaim 11, wherein said blades of said shredding stage are inclined atbetween 0* and 30* to said axial planes.
 13. Apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said blades of said vibration stage are slightlyinclined to axial planes of its shaft, and some of these blades alongthis shaft have their leading edges disposed ahead of their respectivelagging edges in the direction of movement of the more fluid mass alongthe shaft, and the others of these blades have their leading edgesdisposed rearwardly of their respective lagging edges in this directionof movement.
 14. Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said blades ofsaid vibration stage are inclined at between 0* and 10* to said axialplanes of its shaft.
 15. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidvibration stage further comprises another rotary shaft extending in andalong its trough and above its first-mentioned shaft, and other bladesmounted on said other rotary shaft and slightly inclined to axial planesof said other rotary shaft such that their lagging edges are offset withrespect to their respective leading edges in the direction of movementof the more fluid mass along said other rotary shaft.
 16. Apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said vibration stage further comprisesbaffle means in its trough tending to dam the pumpable liquid mass. 17.Apparatus according to claim 16, wherein said baffle means comprisessluice means openable to allow complete emptying of said trough of saidvibration stage.
 18. Apparatus according to claim 1, and furthercomprising recycling means for recycling at least part of said pumpableliquid mass to said refined chocolate.